Crimson Sunset
by foxter
Summary: Set after The Last Recruit. Desmond finds himself on an unexpected adventure as Daniel Faraday is seemingly back from the dead and needs to gather everyone together to reveal the truth about the Flash Sideways. But Widmore is preparing for something he calls "The Event". Jacob is dying and hunting for a replacement and the MiB will do anything to stop Daniel before his downfall.


_September 1831_

Speed increased rapidly as a strong wave battered the sides of the groaning cowering small vessel, throwing The Lookout further towards the beach. Lurking on the horizon for a while before the heavy weather had struck the expedition was a large island. Beach and Jungle made up the majority of the terrain and a tall statue of Taweret, god of fertility stood out from a way away. Another rough wave struck as the ship gave up her last struggle and did nothing to fight been propelled at great speed along the beach and into a small clearing leading to the 's sprint was finally broken as it collided with some rocks, smashing into them with great force, rupturing the structure of the ship and throwing it onto its side.

Hours ticked passed without notice, evening turned to a deep night and then into morning, rays of sunlight reflected down on the wooden structure, partially embedded in a fallen palm tree. The first of the survivors, long and thick black hair flowing down her pale skin and rouged lips, opened her eyes, pupils darting and desperate for focus. Dried Blood had dripped down the right side of her face from a gash near her right ear and she winced as her hand came to rest on the fresh wound. She clambered out of what remained of The Lookout's structure through a gaping hole sustained in the crash and was instantly presented with William, one of four others on the boat.

Blood was sprayed across William's face from left to right, his eyes were wide open and unmoving, having been thrown violently through the side of the ship and slamming his head into the rocks, it hadn't taken long for him to die of this injury. Clara stammered past his body, her weak knees forcing her to hang onto the nearby tree branch and gather the strength to move. While she was doing this she came across the body of Mary who was also unmoving and a piece of sharp wood was impaled in her stomach, soaked in prematurely spilled blood. John was entangled in the branches above her, well all of him except his left arm which had left torn and mutilated flesh and caused him to bleed to death. She felt a deep rumbling in her stomach that was almost painful and made a quick sprint away from the bodies for fear of being sick.

She collapsed on the hot sand nearby, grains of sand burying in her fingernails. Once she had recovered from the initial shock, she made her way back towards the destroyed ship and wandered further into the jungle, hoping to find Henry, the last of her shipmates. It wasn't long before her numb and aching legs took her to a small stream. A wave of relief washed over Clara as she cupped her hands and quenched her thirst with the surprisingly fresh water. Realization of her predicament dawned on her. She was most likely the only survivor of a unrepairable damaged vessel crash and was stranded on a seemingly uninhabited island with limited resources of food.

Far away Jacob was having deep thoughts himself, for once he had not intended on bringing these people to the Island and they were no part of his plan, three of them were dead, one was badly hurt and probably dying. Jacob packed fish into his pack and began an island trek, he was about to make his first recruit.

He had a lot of time to think as he crossed the island to meet the girl, he was contemplating all of his various options. He didn't want any of those options to include his nemesis and twin brother, the one man he truly hated, to get anywhere near the young survivor. He was horrified at the prospect of the man who was desperate to leave getting his hands on a newcomer.

He wasnt sure why but he was drawn by a compulsion to help towards the vulnerable girl, alone with nobody else on The island to look out for her or protect her. He had decided to designate that his job. Although it had never been in his plan to help a shipwrecked girl who he knew hardly anything about, he was hoping she didn't rest badly to his appearance. But he was unprepared for clever Clara to have instinctively taken the only weapon available on the ship into her possession, a sharp knife.

Clara was also quite good it seemed from telling Jacob apart from the rest of the ambient jungle as their paths were about to cross. Brandishing the knife she stopped still.

" Come out whoever you are" she said demanding, and Jacob seeing the sharp metal of the weapon catch the sun came out with his hands in the air.

" It's alright, I just want to talk" said Jacob in a calm manner, his cool voice relieving some of the heat that clung to Clara and his intense reassurance already winning her over as she began to lower the knife

"How many people are living on this Island?" She asked

" 2" he replied his cool attitude not fading " Well 3 including you, did any others survive your shipwreck"

" There were five of us, three are dead at the wreck, one of my group, Henry, he was the captain is missing and I found blood stains in the jungle" Clara explained, her voice slowing with her breathing to adopt Jacobs calm attitude.

" I can help you, I'll look for your friend and take you somewhere safe, there might be a way for you to leave The Island" Clara was surprised by this fact but still had several more burning questions to ask before she came to that matter

" How long have you been on this Island" she asked

" All my life, my mother came here the day I was born" he replied and she dropped the knife and signalled for him to lead the way, it was unusual for her to follow a stranger but she trusted this one.

" So what's your name" Clara asked "I'm Clara"

" My names Jacob" he replied as he led the way through the trees as if the jungle was the back of his hand but on the other hand he acted as surprised as her when they came across Henry. At first he appeared dead but then he coughed violently and began spluttering trying to catch his breath. Jacob removed a strip of cloth from his pocket and dipped it in water to wet it, he began wiping blood from Henry's head, as he continued to cough and Clara tried to get him to stay still.

" Have you got anything to carry him?" Asked Jacob "I can care for him better across The Island where I'm staying but it's not an easy journey"

" Just wait a minute" said Clara as an idea struck her and she rushed off

* * *

_December 2007_

Jack and Sayid had come back and rescued them after they had been imprisoned in polar bear cages by Widmore and his group on Hydra Island. Now Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid, Hurley, Claire, Lapidus, Sun & Jin who had recently been reunited for the first time in three years were heading towards a plane. Ajira Flight 316 had landed on The Island 12 Days earlier and the group were holding it was their long awaited ticket off The Island that they had been trapped on for over three years. Jack was set apart from the rest of the group in that he had moments earlier ditched them because he didn't want to leave The Island but after a mortar attack was launched on Locke's people, he was starting to doubt his decision.

Meanwhile across the island in a deep well, after been abandoned by Locke there, Desmond was trapped. He was full of emotions, anger, resent, confusion but not fear. Charles Widmore, his beloved wife Penny's father, had dragged him back to the rock he wasted four years of his life on pressing a button and escaped three years ago. He had been exposed to intense electromagnetic energy that was meant to convince Widmore he could survive a major EM event and had been told he was to go somewhere and make a sacrifice. That was before he had been tied up by his old friend Sayid and pushed into the well.

Then he heard noises, he could tell them apart from the usual rustling of the tress instantly and it sounded like heavy whispers, then louder voices and clearer ones.

" Zack, come on we have to keep up the pace"

" He's only a child, Josh"

" With respect Cindy, everyone at The Temple is dead, most of our group was just blown up, we have to keep moving"

" Hey!" Shouted Desmond, hoping that the travelers could drag him out, his voice was croaky and hoarse but he quickly got louder with his pleas and sure enough, 6 faces, 4 adults and two children appeared above the well

" I don't suppose you could help me out of here?" Asked Desmond

" Who are you" asked Josh the self appointed leader of the few survivors who had fled

" Desmond, Desmond Hume"

" Why are you down here?" Asked Cindy with a much calmer attitude

" A man threw me down here, his name's John Locke"

" Locke did this" asked a slightly taken aback Cindy, her surprise copied on the faces of Zack and Emma, the two children who clung to her side. Josh looked at Cindy for a few seconds before sighing and reluctantly throwing a rope into the well for Desmond to grab onto. Desmond was eager to do so, gripping tightly with his hands as the group pulled him out of his trap. But Desmond knew it was not over, because Widmore still wanted him.

* * *

_December 2004_

"Dad?"Exclaimed Claire as the man she knew as her father stood before her in the jungle beckoning for her to follow him. She looked across at Sawyer and Miles sleeping and startled began to follow him into the jungle."Dad!" She cried out again but this time he turned around and acknowledged her, he kept opening his mouth but stopping before he could say anything until finally he said.

" Hello Claire, I've come to save you, follow me and I'll explain everything somewhere a little more private explained Christian in a soft concerning fatherly voice

" But how can you be on this Island and what about Aaron?" Questioned Claire

" All will become clear soon Claire, Aaron is in the safe company of your friends and will rest until the morning" he reassured her placing a hand in on her shoulder, Claire looked back in the direction she had just come from and thought for a moment before nodding and turning to walk with her dad.

" I still don't know your name" said a wary Claire

" Does that make you uneasy Claire" inquired Christian and when he didn't get a response he replied " My name is Christian Shepherd" as Claire processed this new information she quickly made a connection

" Shepherd, one of the other survivors of my plane crash, is called Jack Shepherd" Claire said stopping still

" Yes Claire, I'm impressed, but that doesn't matter right now. Jack didn't survive the plane crash and neither did you, 324 bodies were found on the bottom of the ocean in a trench, along with the wreckage of Oceanic Flight 815" Christian explained to a worried Claire who found the whole experience quite surreal

" But that can't be right, 48 of us survived, Naomi said the exact same story when she first came here, I wondered if she was telling the truth but... We didn't crash in the ocean, we crashed here on a island"

" Exactly" said Christian " The wreckage was staged by a man named Charles Widmore, the man who sent that boat here, not penny, Charlie was right, Penny did send a boat but its in the wrong place, that freighter is dangerous" Christian explained. Claire was pleased she had answers but was also suspicious

"How do you know about Charlie?"

" oh I know a lot of things Claire, I've been on this island a while" Christian replied, Claire was about to ask more questions when Christian announced " We're here" Claire looked around and saw a solitary cabin in the trees

* * *

_January 2005_

Whispers dangerous jungle treks, sporadic changes in the weather it felt like life was on a loop for Claire, in the past days after Charlie's supposed death at the Looking Glass, despite been surrounded by caring friends and her baby Aaron, Claire had felt more isolated than ever. But now she felt worse, as she lay on the jungle ground in the pouring rain, the rainwater racing down her face merged with fresh tears as she felt an overwhelming internal pain at the bottom of her chest_._

" Claire" As the alert blonde girl saw his face she screamed a little and ran straight in the other direction and straight into a tree, disoriented she could see him above her, his locks blonde like hers dampened in the rain, his deep caring loving eyes peering down at her and then she slipped into blackness. When she woke up she was wrapped in blankets, by a campfire with a prepared fish meal. Charlie sat opposite from her. Claire stammered to run but couldn't, it was one thing seeing her father on the island but Charlie was different, it was impossible yet his gaze was mesmerizing and she could not shift it.

Many more would appear to her over the next couple of years, her father, Ana Lucia and even Boone, but most prominent and frequent was Charlie. Claire eventually came to the conclusion that these were delusions of her damaged mind. Charlie would tell her information she needed to here and this indirectly influenced her to set Rousseau like traps and with reassurance from her Father, head to the temple. When she got there she was initially allowed in until she attacked a man named Chris and was thrown out like a rabid dog. The next time she visited demanding the child she falsely believed to be concealed within the walls she was met with an assassination attempt once again initiating a struggled exile, alone in the wild jungle, desperately clinging to the last hope of finding her child.

One day she was out collecting firewood and he appeared, she was a bit surprised but not utterly shocked.

" There coming back soon Claire" Charlie replied, slight traces of emotion in his voice the only remotely human thing about this apparition

"What are you talking about? Who?" Claire replied sourly and bitterly and the man seemed a little confused at her change of attitude and hardening

" Some people you haven't seen for a long while and they need your help" Charlie said " Trust him, he knows what he's talking about, he's not crazy Claire"

" I'M CRAZY"Claire screamed with tears welling in her eyelids

And he was gone.

After the Ajira Plane landed, Claire decided to lie lower. Having overheated the temple others discussing the matter of the landed plane and its survivors on Hydra Island, Claire had no interest in these people and didn't want to become acquainted with them. She had her own agenda, getting her baby her mind she had buried the truth that three years had passed for both her and her growing child. To Claire, Aaron was still as three month old baby in a crib that wrongly left one night. After a while on her own, time and how it passed had stopped been important.

Sometimes Claire got angry, she felt like her life had been robbed from her and she was angry. Angry with the island for keeping her stranded, angry with her old friends for leaving her behind, angry with those at the temple because she believed they had Aaron, angry with fate for taking Charlie, Aaron and parts of her sanity and most of all angry with herself.

* * *

" So you didn't see Jacob's ghost, you were just making it up" Claire asked Hurley as they stopped for a rest with their group

" No I was making it up, but I do kinda ya know... Get visited by dead people" Hurley replied with slight uncomfort

" What sort of people? When?" Claire asked her interest perked

" They just sort of turn up and tell me what to do, people I know, mostly people from here, the island, why are you so interested" Hurley replied

" Because I can see them too, we can do the same thing Hurley, Ana Lucia, Boone, Charlie, hey come and talk to me and give me cryptic messages" Claire explained as she noticed Sawyer watching on in disbelief

" Sure they do" Sawyer said

" What does that mean?" Claire spat back at him

" Just cos I'm not In the ghost story club it doesn't bother m-"

" She's not making it up" interrupted Hurley and Claire smiled back at him to thank him for sticking up for her

" Thank you Claire" said Hurley who suddenly jumped up from his seat and started bouncing with joy, Claire smiled more to see this display of happiness which attracted the attention of the rest of the group

" This means its not just me! I'm not crazy" said Hurley, repeatedly shouting this phrase as he embraced Claire tightly, she was surprised by this affection, but returned the hug eventually.

* * *

" So you're the last of the others, there's only six of you" asked Desmond

" Yes, what were you expecting" Josh replied

" Well I just thought you were a really big group and now there's so little of you left"

" The temple was compromised and of the 23 that left, we were the only ones that escaped the mortar attack, if I had to guess, now Jacob's dead and we don't have a leader, our survival isn't necessary" Josh explained, suddenly whispering could be heard from all around in the trees and then Desmond heard a small popping sound and a sharp sting in the back of his neck, he reached back and a dart slipped into his palm. Next he felt like he was falling off a high building in slow motion, in reality he was actually tumbling into a ditch and loosing consciousness.

When he saw when he woke up was a familiar face, but Desmond was unaware that Daniel Faraday was on the island!

" Good morning, Desmond"

" Dan, what happened?"

" You were caught up in warfare and knocked out, that's not important" said a dismissive Daniel " Desmond, where are the rest of your friends, the Oceanic survivors, the ones who came back and those left behind"

" Listen mate, I have been off this damn rock for three years until I get shot by none other than Benjamin Linus and landed in a hospital, I then get taken by Charles Widmore and dragged back here, along with apparently all the survivors of that plane crash" Desmond recapped

" No they came first Desmond" Daniel responded " Where are they now?"

" The last I heard Widmore and Locke were fighting and the others told me that Jack and Sayid were trying to rescue everyone else from Widmore and his cages" Desmond replied to the best of his ability " I Don't know all the answers mate, go to Hydra Island if you want them"

" I want you Desmond, I need you" Daniel returned " Something much bigger than all of this is going on, but you should go with Widmore, that's the right path to take you where you need to be Desmond, but first I need your help"

" Help with what?"

" You need to get everyone together, everyone who was on that plane, or related, I need you to gather them together and I'll take it from there"

"How do I do that when I'm with Widmore?" Asked Desmond but there was no use because as soon a had appeared, Faraday had disappeared

Then he was replaced with Charles Widmore and four armed guards

* * *

_Flash-Sideways, September 24 2004_

_Daniel's eyes snapped open once again, it seemed that although he was fighting it, his dreams were becoming more vivid and his sleep deeper each night, all connected to this mysterious island and people he had never met. That was until the last night, when Desmond Hume had appeared in a memory like sequence set on this same mysterious island and then after the memory was over a different scene played in Daniel's mind and this one felt unlike the past but as it was happening right now in the present, parallel to the timeline he was currently dreaming in. He experienced the conversation ending with his instructions to Desmond and then snapped back to reality. Well he assumed it was reality, it was how he perceived this world. _

_But now he felt different, he had a purpose,he had something of great importance to do in this world the other and he needed Desmond Hume. _


End file.
